PURPOSE Often we assume things about others that may not be true, but accurate data is essential to inform a quality decision-making process. This pdf gives you some ideas for gathering data from your students and their parents that will assist you in creating an online presence, a digital learning hub, that is both welcoming and functional for them.
S U R V E Y E X P LA N AT I O N To avoid offending parents, you may wish to begin by explaining why you are requesting this information. This is probably best done in person, perhaps at the beginning of the year in a parent Open House meeting where you can answer questions. You may also choose to collect this data anonymously; however, then you may not have any way to request the information from specific students/parents who forget to return the form. Perhaps your survey could begin with a statement similar to this: To help me design a web site for our class that works well for most of our students and their families, I would like to get some information from you. I want our web site to be really fantastic. Your answers to these questions will help me decide what types of media to use. I know some of us may not feel very tech savvy, but please make an effort to provide accurate information. If you just don’t know an answer, not to worry!
S O M E P O T E N T I A L Q U E ST I O N S • Do you have a computer at home? • If so, what kind of machine do you have? • Windows • Mac • Both • Other (Linux) • What operating system does you computer use? • Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Other • Mac OS 10.4.10 or earlier, Mac OS 10.4.11, Mac OS 10.5, Mac 10.6 What web browser do you use most often on your computer? • • Internet Explorer • Firefox • Safari • Other • If you know, what version is your most commonly used web browser? • Windows users can find this by... • Mac users can find this by... • Do you have iTunes (for Windows or Mac) installed on your computer? • If you know, what version of iTunes do you have on your computer? • Windows users can find this by... • Mac users can find this by... • Do you have access to the Internet at home? • If you know, what kind of access do you have? • Dial up: slow
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• DSL: faster • Cable modem: fast • Fiber: super fast • Does your computer easily play online video files like those on YouTube or iTunes? • Describe how fast your computer works on the Internet. • Simple web pages take a long time to appear. • Downloading files is slow but doesn’t take too long. • Our machine is fairly fast, and we can easily watch online videos with it. • Do you (parents) have access to a computer at work? • If so, what kind of machine do you have? • Windows • Mac • Both • Other (Linux) What operating system does your work computer use? • • Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Other • Mac OS 10.4.10 or earlier, Mac OS 10.4.11, Mac OS 10.5, Mac 10.6 • What web browser do you use most often on your work computer? • Internet Explorer • Firefox • Safari • Other • If you know, what version is your most commonly used web browser? • Windows users can find this by... • Mac users can find this by... • Do you have iTunes (for Windows or Mac) installed on your work computer? • If you know, what version of iTunes do you have on your work computer? • Windows users can find this by... • Mac users can find this by... • Do you have access to the Internet at work? • If you know, what kind of access do you have? • Dial up: slow • DSL: faster • Cable modem: fast • Fiber: super fast • Does your work computer easily play online video files like those on YouTube or iTunes? • Do you (student) have an Apple iPod? • If so, will your iPod play video or only audio? • If you don’t have an Apple iPod, does someone in your family have an iPod? • If so, will that iPod play video or only audio? • Do you have a portable mp3 player? • If so, what type of portable player do you have?
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• Will this portable player also play video? • Do you or your parents know how to subscribe to a podcast series? • Do you (student) have a mobile phone? • Who is your mobile carrier? • Do your parents allow you to send text messages? • Will your parents allow you to send text messages at school focused on learning? • Does your phone have access to the Internet? • Will your phone play video?
D ATA A G G R E G AT I O N One of the key reasons for this type of survey is to determine how bandwidth intensive your web presence can be. If families have slow computers and slow Internet connections, you will want to have just a few very small pictures on your site and only an occasional and very, very short audio-only podcast. However, if families have newer, faster computers and fast Internet access at home, then you will want to have numerous examples of rich media on your site: thumbnails that link to large photos and numerous video podcasts and screencasts. I’m no expert on this; but, after tallying the percentage of parents with older computers/slower access verses newer computers/faster access, you may want to talk with your local school technical support people to see what how much of which types of media files they recommend for your digital learning hub. Additionally, you want to see how many students have access to portable devices for on-the-go learning. Will those devices only play audio, or will they also play video? Specific devices require specific media file formats. This will inform the types of projects you design for students. If their common devices will only play mp3 files (audio-only podcast episodes), you don’t want them to only create video podcasts in class and visa versa. Again, the objective is to strike a balance that will provide the widest access to your and your students’ content. I’ve included some questions about text messaging with cell phones. If your board policy and building administration support this, you may want to explore this with parents by including the questions related to cell phones and text messaging. PollEverywhere.com has the potential to be a great solution for formative assessment if your classroom does not have the handheld assessment devices. You will also, based on the carriers your students’ use for mobile service, need to know how strong those signals are in your classroom space.
SURVEY DESIGN You will probably want to give some careful consideration to the design of the survey. You want as much factual information as possible. You don’t want parents to just fill in anything and provide you with inaccurate information. Try to strike a balance between a detailed, yet easy-to-fill-out form that doesn’t become so complicated people will just fill in or check off anything to get it done.
FEEDBACK I’ve not included enough! You will have other very good ideas. I would be delighted if you would share them with me as I would like to update this rough draft and share it with teachers all over the world to make this document as useful for everyone as possible. Send your thoughts to tim@drtimtyson.com. Thanks!
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